Keeping Christ in Christmas

O.K., wait a minute, I'm "Church of Christ," right?! For those of you fellow members of the Church, I know that there is no evidence that Christ's birth occurred on December 25th, and that there is no biblical reference to a celebration of any such day. Yet, I am not truly comfortable with Christmas being merely a secular holiday, although that is certainly its origin. I believe that we are to honor Him in all that we do, and December 25th is no exception. Jesus's birth was truly a miraculous event, but His life was THE example that we should strive to follow every day. His death, His sacrifice so that we have the opportunity to spend eternity with him, was His ultimate gift. And then...the resurrection...WOW, His promise fulfilled. As we all spend Christmas with our families, let us remember Him, not only for His birth, but all that He is. He lives; Praise Him!

May you all have a very Merry Christmas!

The Visit with the Big Man Himself

Santa's Village

Sunday night after church we visited Santa's Village in Huntsville. The Constitution Village is transformed into a Christmas fantasyland. There are snow machines making it "snow," a candy cane forest, and even live reindeer!

Mrs. Claus reads us a story.


Jingle Bells, anyone?


I love a good story!


Christmas Around the World


Decorating a cookie. "Now just what do I have to do before I can eat this?"

Christmas Lunch and a New Playground!

The whole family was able to attend the boys' preschool Christmas lunch.

Here are William and his friend, Lan.


See the tree I made?


Are they twins??


The kids got their big Christmas present a little early. Billy and Emily's stepdad put it together in one afternoon! We have really been taking advantage of the warm weather.

Busy season

Rebecca is amazed at the artistic talent of the elephant at the circus.


Celebrating Granddaddy's birthday!


Rebecca takes part in the Athens Christmas Parade! Here is a little glimpse of our FCC (Families with Children from China) float that was built in one evening!


Wow, that parade was awesome!


William sports some Christmas stockings!

Three months ago today...

We welcomed a new daughter into our family. All of our lives have been changed forever. It is truly miraculous to watch Rebecca. She continues to grow and blossom; she has made some tremendous strides in such a short time. For some reason God chose us to be her family, and for that we are so grateful.

Thanksgiving...a bit late

O.K., it's nearing Christmastime and I haven't yet made any mention of one my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving!! I guess since I don't have to cook the meal, I really enjoy it as a stress-free time. I don't think I made a single picture at my mom's on Turkey Day. I think we had a record attendance there, so it was just enough getting caught up with everyone. This is a little cliche, but we do have so much to be thankful for!

We had an early Thanksgiving with Billy's Grandma. Here she is with 4 of her great-grandchildren and 2 of her grandchildren, Devin and Emma. (Billy is her oldest grandchild!)

Devin, Henry, and William had a great time running around playing with sticks and doing whatever it is that boys do.

And finally, we eat!!

The boys took part in their preschool's Thanksgiving program earlier in the season. Cute, but a little fair-skinned for native Americans!